It’s now officially autumn and even better, it’s October! One of my favourite months of the year. Evenings are drawing in and what better to snuggle up with on the sofa than a hot, cosy pudding! Especially when it’s packed with chocolate.

I can’t bake – it’s a well known fact with most people I know and especially with my husband. Even so much so, when I presented this pudding he didn’t believe I had made it. It’s sooo easy to make, even I can do it and the key that makes it simple is that it’s self-saucing! No need to faff around with making a sponge then sauce, just plonk it all in a dish and bake.

Recipe

For the sponge:

180ml milk

100g butter

3 eggs

250g self-raising flour

50g cocoa powder

1 tsp baking powder

150g light brown sugar

200g dark chocolate

For the ‘self-saucing’ sauce:

350ml boiling water

220g soft brown sugar

60g cocoa powder

Preheat your oven to 180c.

Melt the butter and then whisk it together with the eggs and milk.

Sift the flour, cocoa powder and baking powder together then stir in the sugar, then pour in the wet ingredients mixing it well to create a batter.

Chop the chocolate into chunks and stir this into the batter.

Pour into a ceramic baking dish.

Whisk together the boiling water, sugar and cocoa and then pour this directly over your batter  – yes, this is correct – it will look like a muddy puddle but trust me, this will sink to the bottom when it cooks and create an oozy gooey sauce.

Pop into the oven and bake for 30 minutes until it has risen and the sauce is bubbling up the sides.

Spoon out a chunk and spoon some of the chocolate sauce which is now at the bottom of the dish.

Serve hot with some ice cream, cream or custard. Comfort food at its best!